Sarah Strong, Jovana Popovic lead UConn women's basketball to preseason win over Texas

HARTFORD - It's not often Geno Auriemma gets a real eye test of his team before the start of the regular season.

Preseason games have been reserved for secret scrimmages behind closed doors and exhibitions against mismatched opponents. The UConn women's basketball team would play one or two lower-level programs, often a Division II team, and absolutely blow out the box score. Sure, it helped give players minutes and allowed Auriemma space to test out lineups, but it never put the Huskies in a competitive environment.

That wasn't the case Monday against Texas.

The Huskies and Longhorns, both 2026 Final Four teams and led by All-American forwards, went back and forth throughout the first half. UConn's tandem of Jovana Popovic and Sarah Strong dominated on offense, while Texas' size frustrated the Huskies.

And even though the game counts toward nothing and won't matter in any standings or postseason seeding, it forced the Huskies to work through adversity and step up. UConn won 83-61 and, most importantly, gave Auriemma a clearer understanding of his team heading into the final two weeks of the preseason.

UConn was led by Strong with 27 points, three rebounds, three assists, three blocks and one steal. Popovic followed with 22 points (7-of-11 shooting), a team-high seven rebounds, a team-high five assists and one steal. The Huskies shot better against the Longhorns than in their preseason opener against Syracuse (finished 3-of-22 from deep) last week. Against Texas, UConn finished 10-of-18 from the perimeter and outshot Texas 54% to the Longhorns' 43%.

Texas was led by All-American Madison Booker with 23 points, six rebounds and one assist.

Just like last week against Syracuse, in their first preseason exhibition, the Huskies only had 10 available players. Blanca Quiñonez (shoulder) and Marine Dursus (ankle) remain out recovering, while redshirt sophomore Morgan Cheli was a late scratch to the injury report. A UConn spokesperson confirmed before the game that Cheli is "day-to-day," but did not specify why.

Huskies close out their preseason slate on Sunday, hosting Army at 4 p.m. in Storrs. The 2026-27 regular season officially tips off two weeks from Monday, on Nov. 2, when UConn hosts Cornell in Hartford.

Here are the main takeaways from UConn's exhibition win over Texas:

The Good

• Jovana Popovic and Sarah Strong's connection: From full-court length passes to dazzling layups, the two were unstoppable, combining for 22 of UConn's first 29 points. Halfway through the second quarter, Popovic heaved a football-ball-like pass down to Strong by the Huskies' basket. The star forward caught the ball, took a step and made the bucket even with a defender in front. One of Strong's eight straight points in a span of 57 seconds. Popovic and Strong combined for 59 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and two steals.
• Allie Ziebell's return: The junior guard made her preseason debut after missing last week's game against Syracuse due to an ankle injury. Ziebell came in about four minutes into the game. Her first points came off a steal-and-score in the second quarter. Ziebell looked confident back on the floor, never hesitating to take her shot. She finished with eight points, two rebounds, one block and one steal in 21 minutes.
• Defense: UConn outscored Texas 19-8 in the third quarter and held the Longhorns to just 2-of-14 from the floor in the frame. The Huskies double-teamed Booker as Ashlynn Shade held the primary assignment on the Texas star. UConn pressed the Longhorns early and scored 21 points off  Texas' 15 turnovers.

The Bad

• Turnovers: The Huskies turned it over on their first possession of the first and second quarters. Whether it was lack of communication or poor execution, UConn let the ball slip out of control often. By halftime, Texas had scored 14 points off the Huskies' 11 turnovers. Some of that sloppiness is expected in a preseason game where chemistry between players is still developing, and lineups are still being experimented with. UConn finished with 17 turnovers.
• Breaking Texas' press: The Longhorns pressed UConn hard and repeatedly. While UConn could often break through the press, it flustered its offense into an uncontrollable pace – resulting in said turnovers. Having to waste time on the clock trying to look for the best inbound pass sped up UConn's offense and exhausted its guards as they worked hard to get around Texas' length.

This article originally published at Sarah Strong, Jovana Popovic lead UConn women's basketball to preseason win over Texas.